Zodiac Knight

You make me lose my balance,

And I’m a Libra, so that’s no easy feat.

You like to leave things to Chance,

But I’ve never been lucky, and I don’t know how to cheat.

You won’t ask me to dance,

But you’ll bounce to the beat,

And it drives me insane

When you’re charming as a prince

And I feel forced to feign

Composure and indifference.

Your dimples cause me pain,

And your jokes make me laugh, even when they make no sense.

Each time you save my life

You make it harder to live—

I’m hanging on by a thread of strife

That will eventually have to give.

Prince Charming

A damsel in distress,

I wasn’t meant to be saved by you,

But seeing me in my tattered dress,

You felt compelled, what else could you do?

So you pulled out your sword

And shielded me with your family crest,

Fought my demons and cleaned my wounds,

Proceeding with prudence lest

You offend my feminine sensibilities.

But, alas, to my disgrace,

Due to my lack of guile and feminine capabilities,

You kept on to your princess, without leaving a trace. 

Bird Call

Let the warmth of your heart

Breathe through your lips

The timid words of desire

Long-sheltered in your eyes.

May your skin no longer shudder

At the sweet touch of temptation,

And be accustomed to the heat

Emanating from my soul.

Take this moment and hearken

To the call of the winter nightingale

Who has waited, ever patient in the cold,

For you to take flight.

Zero-Sum Game

I gave you all I could,

And you took it all,

As I knew you would.

Me thinkest thou didst not protest:

You left me with a hole...

And took the rest.

Peripherally blinded, I saw but you,

And gave up my dreams

For all you wanted to do.

Deliver you from evil, I would,

I would fly you to the moon,

But for the lifeless legs on which I now stood.

And even faced with the empty street's end,

Just to wipe your tears

I would do it all over again.

Clear Skies

You obscured my vision—

A burning sun

That left me blind,

A man in the moon,

So hard to find.

Your soul took to my heart,

That much I could see,

But silent we remained

Because yours wasn’t free.

Your eyes drew me in

But you were still out of reach;

So I damned that invisible line

I knew you would never breach.

You belonged to the Sky,

Your story was tried and true,

And all I could do

Was wait for you to leave,

A nebulous cloud rolling by.

Crutches

You cry my tears for me

And age my years for me,

Hold me close and

Assuage my fears for me.

Your words turn on the light

When dark spurns day into night,

And you hold my hand

While I learn to fight.

Your face reflects my smallest sorrow,

The flecks in your eyes, my deepest woe,

But a slight smile you let slip,

And into recovery my perplexed heart you throw.

Hooked

I’m a fish that’s been hooked,

Flailing in vain to set myself free

From the fate of being gutted and cooked,

Knowing how futile my efforts will be.

Too weak to fight my captor,

But too weak not to fall for the bait,

Hypnotized, I near my oppressor,

Knowing the pain that awaits.

Paralyzed with the need to feed my addiction,

I’m caught in a timeless Catch-22,

But, despite the end that has been my prediction,

Know this: you can’t have your fish and eat her, too.

Figée dans un Rôle

Ce que je craignais,

Tu me l’as demandé,

Bavardant sans pause,

Sans cesse,

Sans savoir comment

Ta voix me blesse

Quand je sais que derrière

Tes mots c’est elle que tu caresses.

J’ai essayé de l’éviter,

Sans cause visible,

Sans succès.

Alors, je vais m’asseoir,

Puisque tu me le demandes,

Avec un bon sourire,

Toute politesse,

Bien que mon cœur

Veuille partir à toute vitesse. 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I’ve got a question that’s

Been weighing on my mind,

But the strength and courage

I can’t seem to find

To relieve the burden

That’s turned my heart blind.

The meaning of your words

I analyze and speculate,

The message in your touch,

I love so much I hate—

But in the end, I have no control

And think to leave it all to fate.

But when Destiny calls,

You can’t rest on your laurels,

You have to fight for your life

And live by your morals,

Search the entire reef

For that most perfect coral.

But what if that coral

Simply doesn’t exist?

Do I search the entire ocean,

Or do I desist?

Do I hold back my question,

Or should I persist?

I choose to hold back

And I continue to pray,

For hope, even in confusion,

Is enough to outweigh

The possibility of the truth

Not going my way.

Take the Wheel

Turn up your palms

And face to the sky

When the rain pours down

And the clouds roll by,

So that, wet and cold,

You’ll know you’re alive.

Then, when the sky clears,

Set out on a drive.

Roll down your window,

Stick your hand outside,

Forget all your worries,

Let go of your pride.

Blast the radio

And sing along,

Even if it’s playing

A cheesy song.

Laugh out loud

And share the joke,

Let down your guard,

Release the yoke.

Open your heart,

Let her in,

And Life will reward you

With a winning grin.

Succumb to her charms—

Though short she might be,

She is full of grace

And natural beauty—

For she’s the one,

The one you couldn’t cheat,

So keep her close

In the passenger’s seat.

Vibe is Vibe

Hand on my waist

As you walk on by,

Smile on your face,

Twinkle in your eye,

Your words run on

When my mouth runs dry.

Questions you ask

And answers you find,

Glances you shoot

To read my mind--

The occasional silence

Our thoughts do bind.

You keep me safe

When side by side,

And give me strength,

Your arms open wide...

The rest doesn’t matter

‘Cause vibe is vibe.

Mile Run

My legs went numb

Half-way through,

And my body ran dry

As the sun blazed true.

My mind sprinted,

My legs kept their pace,

My spirit sank,

I turned red in the face.

The scene around me

Was all a blur,

Familiar, maybe,

But I was not sure.

Like a mouse on its wheel,

There was no end—

A vicious cycle continued

Around each bend.

Finally, I made it

Around the last time,

No feeling in my legs,

But my heart, sublime.

Catching my breath,

I took in the air,

Filled up my lungs,

Leaving none to spare.

A bottle of water

Removed my last sorrow,

Until Coach waved and said,

“See you tomorrow!”

Perfectionism is the Perfectionist's First Mistake

The sky strikes midnight.

Staring at the blank slate,

No thoughts to think,

No words to paint,

You sit, paralyzed.

The only sound is of

Your heart beating to

The ticking rain.

A crack in the window

Lets in the wind

And rouses

The panic within.

Where to begin when

I don’t know the end?

Which road to take,

If not the one taken?

Who do I want to be,

What image do

I want to portray?

What are the risks?

There’s no room for mistake.

Mistakes are wallowing inside

When the sun is bright,

Not tripping on the lawn

And scraping your knee.

Mistakes are guarding your heart

From unfavorable results,

Not risking love

And getting hurt.

Mistakes are sitting on the sidelines

And watching your team play,

Not playing your heart out

And losing the game.

Life is not a mistake.

So when the rain stops,

At the first sign of light,

Do me a favor and

Go fly your f**king kite.

But until then,

Before you say goodnight,

Pick up your pen and

Draw the first line

To take you one step closer

To the unknown end.

(Though, as we know, the end

Is also the beginning,

And the cuts and bruises

You earned along the way

Will help you win

The next time you play).

District Champ

There was always another, a hurdle,

And though I was a jumper, my blood would curdle

At the sight, seemingly impossible to overcome.

I would shut my eyes and see you at the finish line—

All I had to do was cross it and you would be mine.

But the jumps were high and my spirits low.

How many races I had lost before,

How many scrapes and muscles, sore—

Such were my pre-game thoughts.

I hated the pressure, I hated the game.

Trying my hardest it would all end the same.

I tried to think of it as a race against myself.

But it never is. Because she’s always there in the next lane.

Running her fastest, she seems numb to the pain

That burns deep through my limbs.

We had shaken hands, even exchanged names,

Then she’d psyched me out with her titles, claims.

Anxiety rising, I took a deep breath,

Then took my mark out on the track.

The gun went off with a loud crack

And I ran until we were neck and neck.

And then...I knew it. I knew I could win,

I just had to ignore the pain in my shin.

The second wind pushing me around the last bend,

I jumped the last hurdle and pulled in first,

Smiling at how I had feared the worst,

And crying at the touch of my prize...The End.